This application relates to a gas turbine engine. More particularly, the application relates to an air/fuel swirler that induces mixing between the air and fuel prior to ignition.
Gas turbine engines typically include a swirler having vanes that induces a desired air/fuel flow prior to ignition. The air/fuel mixture must light on-the-fly under various operating conditions. It is desirable to light the mixture on-the-fly under conditions in which there are high pressure drops across the swirler. At high differential pressures, the velocity is much higher than desired making it difficult to light the mixture. The mixture downstream from the swirler within the combustion chamber is typically under a low pressure. The air entering the swirler can be under very high pressures under some conditions, creating high velocities in the combustion chamber, which are adverse to lighting.
What is needed is a gas turbine engine capable of lighting on-the-fly under a greater variety of operating conditions, in particular, during conditions that typically have had high differential pressures across the swirler.